As you’ve probably noticed I’ve been reading a lot of Lethem lately, it’s almost subconcious really. Yes, obviously it takes a conscious effort to check out or buy the book and to crack it open to read, but my TBR pile aside, I’ve not really be reading with any particular goal in mind. With that said it seems there’s something that keeps (subconciously) drawing me back to Lethem.

This is the third Lethem book I’ve read and the one I was originally recommended to read. Like I said, no realy plan in what I’ve been reading.

Gun, With Occasional Music is a mystery, more specifically hard-boiled detective novel. The setting is fairly dystopian near future, and, as I’ve come to expect from Lethem, the setting of Gun has a few quirks to make it distinctly his.

First, the protagonist, Conrad Metcalf, has had the sensory experience of male sex replaced by the female experience – this was a swap with an ex-girlfriend who then skipped town on him. Next, there animals evolved to human intelligence (and some anthropomorphism – so they have handy things like fingers and the ability to walk upright). Lastly, there is the karma system.

The Karma system in Gun is essentially a quasi-legal (in the sense of pertaining to the legal system), balance sheet of what the police, called the inquisitors, deem good or bad. As you can guess our private inquisitor Metcalf is hassled karmically by the official inquisitors.

The mystery itself revolves around the murder of a former client of Metcalf’s who becomes involved when the man accused of the crime hires our hero to ferret out the truth. As with any good mystery, it’s a multi-layered one with more than a couple twists.

Again Lethem creates well-written and believable characters that one can care about. Add to that the quirky and oddly believable (I think the dystopian aspect of it helps on this point) setting makes for another Lethem book that I thoroughly enjoyed.